The Jacksonville University women’s lacrosse team heads to the University of Maryland campus, where they will take on UMass in the opening round of the NCAA tournament at the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex at 4 p.m. on Friday.
The Dolphins earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year after defeating Detroit, 15-5 in the Atlantic Sun tournament. Along with the win, Jacksonville landed five players on the All-Tournament Team, including Kristin Ridenour, Ashtyn Hiron, Asia Moore, Danielle Della Rocca and Brittney Orashen who was named tournament MVP.
The team leads the nation in ground balls with 24.58 a contest and a scoring margin at +8.95, The Dolphins rank third with 10.26 caused turnovers per game and second averaging 8.0 assists a contest. Jacksonville is fourth in the country in draw controls with 15.47. Danielle Della Rocca ranks ninth in points, while Asia Moore has a country-wide eighth best goals against average. The Dolphins have only allowed 133 goals this season, but net an average of 15.95 goals per game giving them a third-place ranking in the nation.
In the Minutewomen’s last outing, they defeated Richmond 8-4 to clinch the Atlantic 10 championship, which gave them an automatic berth into the tournament. This is their seventh-straight conference championship, and eighth NCAA appearance. Last season, UMass dropped a 10-4 decision against #12 Loyola Maryland.
Currently, the Minutewomen lead the country with a top scoring defense, as well as leading in caused turnovers, saves, and win percentage. Goalie, Rachel Vallarelli leads the nation in goals against average and save percentage.